The scene was from an earlier version of the game, and apparently was never meant to be seen.

"This has been educational for us and the entire [video-game] industry," said company spokesman Rodney Walker. "There's a major gap between those who play games and those who don't. We must do a better job preparing people for what is going on in video games."

Walker said games intended for mature players make up the fastest growing segment of the video game industry.

"We have an obligation to let parents know that not all games are for young people," added Walker. "Our top priority is to make sure retailers and parents understand the rating system."

Rockstar had initially blamed hackers for creating the scene, but it later emerged that the content was built into the game, and the hackers had simply exposed it. Walker admitted Rockstar could have done a better job.

Whether Rockstar will find an audience for its outreach remains to be seen.

"We appreciated that they've owned up to what went wrong, but they've fallen short of making it right," said Tim Winter, executive director of the Parents Television Council. "That's why we wrote the letter to the CEO at [Rockstar parent company] Take 2 [Interactive] asking them to pull products off the shelves and give consumers a refund."

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